Packaging for dog treats

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a lightweight and uncomplicated package and method for packaging animal treats. The package includes a coffee cup defining an inside volume to receive the animal treats and including a rim surrounding an upper end of the inside volume. A lid is removably fastened to the rim of the coffee cup, the lid adapted to at least partially cover the animal treats. In another embodiment of the present invention the rim of the coffee cup is sealed with a removable seal and in a further embodiment of the present invention the animal treats are bagged prior to being placed within the coffee cup. The animal treats suitably may include dog treats.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to packaging, and, more specifically,to animal food packaging.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Animal treats, such as dog treats, are commonly packaged in bags orboxes for distribution through supermarkets and pet food stores. At thesame time, patrons of coffee outlets and coffee stands often are walkingtheir dogs when they purchase coffee beverages and have a desire topurchase dog treats for their accompanying pet. Current packaging fordog treats is not standardized or adapted for convenient handling atcoffee outlets, or for easy distribution with coffee beverages.

Accordingly, there is an unmet need in the art for animal treatpackaging that is convenient and configured for ease of distribution atcoffee outlets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a lightweight standardized and uncomplicatedsystem and method for packaging animal treats. The package includes acoffee cup defining an inside volume to receive the animal treats andincluding a rim surrounding an upper end of the inside volume. A lid isremovably fastened to the rim of the coffee cup, the lid adapted to atleast partially cover the dog treats. In another embodiment of thepresent invention the coffee cup is sealed with a removable seal and ina further embodiment of the present invention the dog treats are baggedprior to being placed within the coffee cup.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred and alternative embodiments of the present invention aredescribed in detail below with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a coffee cup package of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of an alternate coffee cup package of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of a second alternate coffee cup package ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for packaginganimal treats. Many specific details of certain embodiments of theinvention are set forth in the following description and in FIGS. 1-4 toprovide a thorough understanding of such embodiments. One skilled in theart, however, will understand that the present invention may haveadditional embodiments, or that the present invention may be practicedwithout several of the details described in the following description.

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of an exemplary animal treat package 10 ofthe present invention. The package 10 includes a coffee cup 20 at leastpartially filled with animal treats 5, in this example dog treats. Thecoffee cup 20 has a rim 22. By way of example but not limitation, thecoffee cup 20 includes a standard disposable paper coffee cup of anormal size, such as an 8 oz cup, a 12 oz cup, or a 20 oz cup. Theanimal treats 5 within the cup 20 are at least partially covered by alid 30 attached to the cup 20. In this exemplary embodiment, the lid 30includes a standard disposable plastic coffee cup lid that snaps to thecup 20. The lid 30 snaps to the cup 20 with a snap lip 32 that fits overthe rim 22 of the cup 20.

It will be appreciated that the package 10 of FIG. 1 suitably is of astandard size and dimension for convenient handling at a coffee outlet.Coffee cups may be placed within cup holders or carriers (not shown)when a purchaser buys a plurality of coffee beverages and/or animaltreat packages such as the package 10 of FIG. 1. The package 10 may beat least partially filled with animal treats 5 either before purchasedby a purchaser, or at the time of purchase from a dispenser (not shown)at the coffee outlet. Coffee outlets typically work with standard sizedcoffee cups 20 and standard sized disposable lids 30. Thus, the handlingof the package 10 of the present invention is advantageously convenientand consistent with current packaging practices at coffee outlets.

Turning to FIG. 2, an alternate exemplary package 50 of the presentinvention is shown. The package 50 includes a coffee cup 60. In thisexemplary embodiment, the cup 60 is sealed with a removable seal 65. Thecoffee cup 60, as described with respect to FIG. 1 is partially filledwith dog treats 5. The cup 60 suitably may include a paper or plasticdisposable coffee cup. The cup 60 includes a rim 62. The seal 65 coversthe coffee cup 60 by being attached to the rim 62. In this exampleembodiment, the seal 65 is attached to the rim 62 with a heat activatedadhesive 67. The seal 65 suitably, by way of example, but notlimitation, may include a foil material, or a heat shrinkable plastic.

In this package 50, the seal 65 includes a pull tab 69 arranged to bepulled by a user to remove the seal 65 from the cup 60.

The package 50 includes a lid 70 that caps the cup 60. As described withrespect to FIG. 1, the lid 70, by way of example but not limitation,includes a snap lip 70 that snaps over the rim 62 of the cup 60. Withthe lid 70 snapped over the rim 62, the pull tab 69 suitably extendsbelow the snap lip 70 so that the pull tab 69 for the seal 65 is visibleto the end user even when the lid 70 is in place on the cup 60.

FIG. 3 is a cross section of a second exemplary package 80 of thepresent invention. By way of example, but not limitation, in the secondalternate package 80, the animal treats 5 are enclosed within a bag 95held within a coffee cup 90. The bag 95 suitably may be a plastic, foilor cellophane bag sealed at its ends 97 with heat seal closures. In thispackage 80, the bag 95 of dog treats 5 is placed within the cup 90.Then, as described with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2, a lid 100 is snappedonto the cup 90. The lid 100 includes a snap lip 102 that snaps over therim 92 of the cup 90. It will be appreciated that bagging the animaltreats 5 suitably allows the animal treats 5 to be sealed in individualportion sizes and shipped separately from the cup 90 and the lid 100with the cup 90 and lid 100 shipped in nested configurations, reducingshipping and storage volume. For display, on-the-shelf storage, and saleto the end user, the bag 95 of dog treats 5 may be suitably placedwithin the cup 90 and the lid 100 snapped on at, for example, a coffeeoutlet.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary method 200 of packaging animaltreats of the present invention. At a block 210 dog treats are loadedinto a coffee cup. It will be appreciated that animal treats other thandog treats may be packaged utilizing the method and apparatus of thepresent invention.

At a block 220 the treats are sealed from the atmosphere such as byapplying a seal to a coffee cup lip as described with respect to FIG. 2above, or by bagging, as described with respect to FIG. 3 above. Whilesealing in this exemplary method 200 is shown after loading the treatsinto the coffee cup at a block 210, sealing may suitably occur prior toloading of the coffee cup with animal treats, or sealing may be omittedif the animal treats are packed fresh.

After the treats are sealed at a block 220, the coffee cup lid isapplied at a block 230. By way of example and not limitation, the lidmay be applied to the coffee cup by snapping it on the coffee cuputilizing the configuration described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, as noted above, many changes can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope ofthe invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferredembodiment. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely byreference to the claims that follow.

1. A package for animal treats, the package comprising: a coffee cupdefining an inside volume to receive the animal treats and including arim surrounding an upper end of the inside volume; and a lid removablyfastened to the rim of the coffee cup, the lid adapted to at leastpartially cover the animal treats.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising: a removable seal attached to the rim, the seal adapted toclose the inside volume from the atmosphere and hold the animal treatswithin the inside volume.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein theremovable seal is attached to the rim with a heat activated adhesive. 4.The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the removable seal is includes a heatshrinkable material.
 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the removableseal includes a pull tab.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising: a bag enclosing the animal treats, the bag adapted to fitwithin the inside volume and to seal the animal treats from theatmosphere.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the bag includescellophane wrapper.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the bagincludes a plastic wrapper.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the bagincludes a foil wrapper.
 10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the bagincludes a heat seal sealing the animal treats from the atmosphere. 11.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the lid includes a snap lip configuredto removably snap over the rim.
 12. A package for dog treats, thepackage comprising: a coffee cup defining an inside volume to receivethe dog treats, the coffee cup including a rim surrounding an upper endof the inside volume and being manufactured substantially of adisposable paper material; and a coffee cup lid, removably fastenable tothe coffee cup by snapping to the rim of the coffee cup, the lid adaptedto substantially cover the dog treats received within the inside volume,the lid being manufactured substantially of a plastic disposablematerial.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: a removableseal attached to the rim, the seal adapted to close the inside volumefrom the atmosphere and hold dog treats within the inside volume. 14.The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the removable seal is attached to therim with a heat activated adhesive.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13,wherein the removable seal includes a heat shrinkable material.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the removable seal includes a pull tab.17. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising: a bag enclosing thedog treats, the bag adapted to fit within the inside volume and to sealthe dog treats from the atmosphere and hold dog treats within the insidevolume.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the bag includescellophane wrapper.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the bagincludes a plastic wrapper.
 20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein thebag includes a heat seal sealing the bag closed.
 21. A method forpackaging animal treats, comprising: providing a coffee cup; at leastpartially filling the coffee cup with animal treats; and substantiallyclosing the coffee cup with a lid.
 22. The method of claim 21, furthercomprising: sealing the coffee cup with a seal attached to a rim of thecoffee cup.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein sealing the coffee cupincludes adhering the seal to the rim.
 24. The method of claim 22,wherein sealing the coffee cup includes heat shrinking the seal.
 25. Themethod of claim 21, further comprising: bagging the animal treats. 26.The method of claim 25 wherein the bagging includes sealing the bagthereby enclosing the dog treats.
 27. The method of claim 21, whereinsubstantially closing the coffee cup with a lid includes snapping thelid on the coffee cup.
 28. The method of claim 21 wherein the providinga coffee cup includes providing a disposable paper coffee cup.
 29. Themethod of claim 21 wherein substantially closing the coffee cup with alid includes capping the coffee cup with a disposable plastic lid. 30.The method of claim 21 wherein the animal treats include dog treats.